The Phoenix Countries
by FiabescoVargas
Summary: This is based off of future events that, hopefully, will never happen. Northern Italy is in ashes and only one living thing remains. Germany must overcome his grief and realize his true origin in order to help a new country make its way in the hardened world currently going through multiple wars.
1. Chapter 1

Ludwig stood before the burning ashes of Rome. "ITALY!" he yelled as loudly as he could. No answer returned. The radicals had torn through the entire country in less than a week. Feliciano had told him that he could handle the matters of his own country himself. He couldn't have been more wrong. "ITALY! ANSWER ME!" tears began to streak down the great country's face. "YOU DUNKOFF!"

"What's a dunkoff?" a small voice asked. Ludwig turned around to see a child, about thirteen years old, standing, covered in soot, in the holy clothes of a newborn nation. "Who are you?" Ludwig asked, looking over the child again. "My people call me Fiabesco, but he called me Uccello di Fuoco."

"You're a country?" Ludwig asked. Fiabesco nodded, "That's what he told me."

"Who's 'He'?" The child looked up with round amber eyes, eyes that Ludwig had only seen a handful of times but knew anywhere. "The man whose heart was burned to the ground."


	2. Chapter 2

"'When a country's capital is burned to the ground and there is no Boss to take command the country dies.' That is the law written in our hearts before we wake up for the first time." Alfred said, for once, in a serious tone. The nations of earth had gathered with the news of a new country. "Italy is gone, but Fiabesco needs a guardian." America scanned the room of melancholy faces. "So what are we going to do?"

"Well I vote England out. He raised America and look how poorly he turned out." Francis said, already on his usual high horse. "I don't think that the person who abandoned a small child in a winter tundra has a right to talk about my parenting skills." Author retorted. "What's wrong with how I turned out?!" Alfred asked.

"Well I am much to old to raise another country so I'll sit this one out." Yao said, rubbing his knee joints that still ached from the trip here. "I could do it." Ivan offered.

"NO!" Everyone objected at once. "Well we let America decide why not let Fiabesco?" Everyone looked at Roderich, "I'd be happy to help since I raised Italy but I think it should be up to Fiabesco to make the final decision." Elizabeta agreed at once, "That's a wonderful idea Austria!"

Everyone turned to look at the child that up till now had sat quietly. Fiabesco had soft brown hair just like Feliciano had when he was younger the only difference in their looks is that Uccello didn't have the Italian curl. "Fiabesco, what would you like to do?" Elizabeta asked, crouching down in order to be on eye level with the new country. Uccello thought for a second, stood up and walked up to Ludwig who has sitting by the window, looking outside. "Mr. Beilschmidt?" Ludwig looked at Uccello in surprise. Not many countries called each other by their human names. "You were friends with my papa right? If papa liked you than so will I." Tears started to well up in the corner of Ludwig's eyes, memories of Feliciano playing through his head. Images of to men standing on a hill making a pinky promise played in his head. "If that's what you want, then you can stay with me. Though I said that I have no idea how to raise a young teenage boy such as yourself." Uccello blinked, "Well that's fine since I'm a girl right?"

The meeting room was quiet for a second followed by a chorus of "WHAT?!" from all the males in the room. "B-b-but you look just like Italy did when he was young." Francis stuttered. "Well, in all honesty he did look a little girlish in his younger years." Antonio said nodding in agreement to Francis. "I thought it was obvious that Fiabesco was a girl." Elizabeta said looking over at Austria who looked completely embarrassed, "I think only you girls can really tell, Hungary. No matter how I look at her all I see is a boy." Austria sighed. Lili stood up from her seat and grabbed Uccello by the hand. "Big brother, I'll be right back." She said over her shoulder as she led Uccello from the room. "Liechtenstein, what are you doing?" Minutes passed as the countries waited for the two girls to return. After about half an hour they returned. Uccello's hair was pulled back into a small ponytail and she was now wearing a brown pleated skirt the came down to mid thigh and a green long-sleeve tee-shirt. Everyone smiled at the now obvious girl. Even Ludwig was smiling for a second before he was overwhelmed with sadness again.


	3. Chapter 3

Uccello sat in a tall oak tree in Ludwig's backyard. Her now mid-back length hair trailed out in the wind. She decided to keep the ponytail even though she now looked more like a girl. "One year." She whispered. Today marked the first anniversary of Ludwig finding her. "Ai-yah Fiabesco! Get down from there before you fall!" Uccello looked down to see Yao standing at the base of the tree. "Coming Grandpa Yao!" She yelled back and started her way down the tree. Yao knew Uccello didn't mean any disrespect with the term "grandpa." The first time she called him that he was furious but after time he realized she had a habit of calling most the countries either "uncle" or "aunt."

"Why can't you call me 'uncle' like you do for other countries?" Yao asked when she reached the bottom. "Well…" Fiabesco started but had to stop to think, "you're a lot older than all the countries I know. " Yao sighed. Though Fiabesco had the appearance of a teenager her thoughts were similar to that of a small child. "Well, I suppose there's no helping it then." Yao smiled at the young country, "Happy birthday Fiabesco." Uccello beamed back at him.

They walked into the house where Ludwig was frantically trying to set up a birthday party. "Papa Ludwig's not very good at these sort of informal things is he?" Uccello asked. Yao laughed, "No I'm afraid not."

When they got in the house Uccello ran up stairs to change and Yao went to the living room where Ludwig was putting up green and red streamers. "Ai-yah, it looks more like a Christmas party." Ludwig looked over his shoulder with a worried expression. "I kid. Though I never would have pegged you to throw a party for her birthday." Ludwig looked back at the streamers, "She's been so odd lately. I here her talking to herself all the time, but when I say something about it she just smiles and when she's not talking to herself she just sits around the house with an strange look on her face. I thought this would be a good change of pace for her." Ludwig sighed, "However I'm really not good at this." Yao laughed and picked up a box of streamers, "Well I can at least help you set up. As for her talking to herself its normal for kids to have imaginary friends so I wouldn't think much of it." Ludwig smiled at Yao, "Thanks China."


	4. Chapter 4

Uccello twirled in her white party dress. "What do you think?" she asked. The Roman Empire and Germania sat on her bed. "Ah, my little great granddaughter is so cute! Come here and give Grandpa Rome a hug!" Uccello hugged her great grandfather. "I can't believe my grandson is throwing a party." Germania sad. Uccello laughed; her adopted great grandfather and Ludwig were so similar it was scary. "Hey, are you two going to show up at the party or disappear again?" Uccello asked. The Roman Empire looked sadly at her, "I'm afraid the other countries can't talk to us like you can Uccello, just as you can't see Feliciano." Uccello looked at her feet. Every since she moved in with Ludwig these two show up whenever she wants to talk to them, Germania said that a long time ago Ludwig could see the too, but he believed every meeting to be nothing more than a dream. "We have to go now Uccello, but you have a fun party and a happy birthday." The Roman Empire hugged his great granddaughter one more time and Germania patted her on the head. The door to Uccello's room opened, "Oh, you're by yourself. I thought I herd you talking to someone." Ludwig scanned Uccello's room, "Well fix your bed and come down stairs, everyone's here already." Ludwig closed the door and Uccello smiled at her bed. The covers were twisted into two circular shapes on the edge where her two grandfathers had been sitting.

* * *

Once her bed was made Uccello ran down the stairs to see most of the world's countries in her living room. Every one sang a chorus of "Happy Birthday" and Uccello started making her way through the crowd talking to everyone and tanking them each for coming. While she was talking to Author two hands grabbed her around the waist and picked her up. Uccello turned her head and smiled, "Ivan!" The enormous country gave Uccello a hug and put her back down. Uccello was one of the only countries who wasn't afraid of Ivan, in fact she saw him as her big brother. He was always over at the house with Peter and Ravis. Ivan handed Uccello a sunflower, "Happy birthday little Fiabesco."

"Thanks!" Uccello said, waved bye to Ivan, and ran off to the kitchen to put the giant flower in water. When she returned she received an enormous hug from Peter. "I'm so glad you could make it Peter!" Peter pulled back and smiled at Uccello, "Like I'd miss you're birthday Uccello." Uccello smiled. Peter was the only one other than the Roman Empire who called her by her human name. "Come on, lets go get some cake!"


	5. Chapter 5

Uccello Sat on her bed and looked at all her presents. She had received books, clothes, and a bb gun- the gun was from Alfred. She heard a knock on her door and Ludwig walked in. "I haven't given you my present yet." In his hand sat a gold chain with a large rectangular pendent hanging from it. Ludwig handed her the necklace "Open it." Uccello looked up at him and then back at the necklace, she pushed a small button on the side of the pendant and it sprang open. A soft melody like that of a music box started playing that seemed warmed her heart. Inside was a picture of a young man in a blue military uniform. "That's your father, I knew you didn't have a picture of him so I looked through some old military files and found that."

Uccello looked back up at Ludwig. "What's this song?" Germany smiled, "That was the Italian national anthem. After your father passed away Romano changed it." Uccello looked down at the picture of her father. Lovino avoid Uccello like the plague. It was his fault for what happened in Italy a year ago and he sees Uccello as nothing more than a bitter reminder. Tears ran down Uccello's face as her father's national anthem came to an end, "Thank you." Ludwig gave Uccello one of his awkward hugs and left the room. Uccello fell asleep that night with the locket in her hand.

* * *

In her dream Uccello was floating in a world of white. She looked down and watched as a scene began to unfold beneath her. Fire spread across a vas land and two men stood in the middle of it. "Look at what you've done! If you had surrendered you could have seen Italy again! Why Holy Rome?" Uccello recognized Francis' voice. The other man was dressed in black from head to toe and resembled Ludwig. "I could never face Italy if I had surrendered." Uccello watched in horror as the man Francis had called Holy Rome began to disappear from his feet up. "I don't blame you for this France. We must follow the orders of our Bosses." Uccello realized that Francis was crying, she had never seen her self proclaimed Uncle look so helpless.

The scene shifted to a world covered in ash that was almost nostalgic to Uccello. "Holy Rome! Where are you? HOLY ROME!" Uccello turned to see Gilbert trudging through the ashes and her heart fell. "He's not there Uncle." He whispered as a tear ran down her face. Gilbert crumpled to the ground in despair as he realized he could never find his little brother, because he was gone for good. "Why are you crying?" a gruff voice asked. Uccello gasped as she watched a young teenage boy dressed in holy garments walked up to Gilbert. He had golden hair that was brushed back and eyes as blue as a summer sky. "Holy Rome?" Gilbert asked. "Whose Holy Rome? My name's Germany." The boy said looking irritated.

"Germany?"

"That's what I said isn't it. Though that guy earlier gave me another name, something about fitting in with the new world or something." The boy said looking up at the sky. "what was it? Oh, Ludwig Beilschmidt."

Uccello watched as the scene changed again, into a field of dead trees. Again two men stood alone, but this time Uccello recognized one immediately as her Uncle Lovino. The looked carefully at the other one and realized it was the man inside her locket. "Papa."

"Please Veneziano, if you surrender I can convince the troops to pull out!" Lovino pleaded with his little brother but Feliciano just shook his head. "I'm sorry big brother, my people want me to fight on." Lovino began to cry, "Why? Why didn't you ask that jerk Germany for help? You knew my boss was planning on overtaking you!" Feliciano just smiled at his big brother. "This is a family matter, I don't want Germany's friends to die because of our family dispute. Besides, it's to late anyways." Uccello felt vile rise up in the back of her throat as she watched her father's feet began to disappear just as Holy Rome's had. "Your boss has reached Rome." Lovino began to panic and ran to Feliciano who had fallen over. "Someone, help me please! Anyone, my brother's going to disappear! Someone please, HELP ME!" Lovino's face was drenched in tears as he cried out for help. Uccello curled into a ball as she listened to her uncle's pleas for help. Suddenly everything went silent. Uccello looked up to see yet another world covered in ashes. Standing on the edge of the world was Ludwig and a younger Uccello, holding hands and walking away from the incinerated capital.


	6. Chapter 6

Uccello sat straight up in her bed covered in sweat. The clock in her room read one-thirty in the morning. Uccello walked to her dresser and pulled out a pair of jeans and her favorite green shirt. She pulled out a backpack and placed a jacket, her cell phone, and some money she had gotten for her birthday inside. On her way out of her room she grabbed an old and rusted key that sat on her dresser. Uccello ran down the stairs and out the front door of the house. If she ran fast enough she could get back before Ludwig woke up. Within an hour she could make out the silhouette of Roderich's house through the trees. She needed answers and the best place to find out more about her father was from the people who raised him. Roderich had told Uccello at her party that he'd be away for a few days at Alfred's house preparing for something. Uccello placed the old key in the lock and opened the door. Uccello walked a room that sat in the back of the house and opened the door. The walls of the room were covered with shelves upon shelves of books. At the end of the room hang a portrait that looked really old. In the portrait Roderich and Elizabeta sat with two children in front of an old tree. Uccello tried to make out the faces of the children but their faces were faded. She looked around any found some old photo albums and a few of Roderich's diaries.

The sun began to rise as Uccello walked back home. She had found what she was looking for, but she regretted ever looking. She was carrying one of the diaries she had found in her book bag. In it was a phrase Roderich had used repeatedly that made Uccello feel sick every time she read it: "Phoenix Countries." Countries created by destroying another; countries like Ludwig and Uccello.

Uccello was in deep thought when she heard an explosion and her body was thrown almost twenty yards. "You idiots missed her!" A loud voice yelled. Uccello stood back up, he legs shaking, Uccello recognized the man who was yelling from stories she hear from Heracles, "Sadik Adnan." Sadik looked over at Uccello, "Oh, you've heard of me have you? I'm truly sorry about this but it seems my Boss wants to take you out first in order to get the ball rolling." Sadik smirked as his soldiers reloaded the rocket launcher and aimed it at Uccello. "Ball rolling for what?" Uccello asked, taking a step back. "Why, don't the adults tell you anything? For the third world war of course." Uccello's eyes widened in disbelief as Sadik raised his hand to give the order to fire. "It seems to be my lucky day."

Uccello turned around and started running as fast as she could. There was another explosion, this time slightly to her right, but Uccello barely noticed. Her mind started calculating how long it would take her to reach Ludwig's house. It was another five minutes of running and she could her Sadik's men behind her firing automatic weapons. For the first time in her life she was scared. She started pushing her legs faster and faster-she had never ran this fast before. She could already see the house through all the foliage and dust that the stray bullets were kicking up. Uccello began to scream as loudly as she could manage, "PAPA LUDWIG!"

She burst through the line of trees into Ludwig's front yard. Uccello could see Ludwig standing in front of the house dressed in a green military uniform and holding what looked to Uccello like an enormous metal pipe. "Fiabesco, GET DOWN." Uccello dove down as Ludwig pulled the trigger on the bazooka. "Pull back!" Sadik yelled to his troops and Uccello heard the gunfire stop. A at once the right side of her body burned with searing pain and she could feel sharp pains all over her body. "Fiabesco, hold on!" Ludwig's voice sounded so far away to Uccello. No matter how hard she tried to get up she couldn't.

* * *

Uccello woke up to the sound of Arthur and Ludwig talking. They were standing outside of her room but she could still make out most of what they were saying. "Why attack Fiabesco? Their still recovering from last year." Arthur's voice sounded earnest. "Well she doesn't really have a military, but you're right England. I can't figure out why they'd want a country that's cover with ash." Ludwig sounded tired. Uccello didn't really like how they were talking about her land. She had tried her best to clean up and rebuild in the past year. "America wants everyone who's fighting against Turkey and his allies to meet in the usual room this afternoon to come up with a plan." Uccello could hear Ludwig sign, "Alright, it looks like I'll be fighting with you guys this time." Uccello's stomach began to hurt and she looked around for a trashcan. There was one sitting right beside her bed that was filled with used medical supplies, she picked it up and began vomiting. The other two heard the commotion and came into the room. "Fiabesco, are you okay?!" Arthur asked as he rushed over to hold her hair back. Ludwig helped Uccello clean herself as Arthur took her temperature and changed her bandages. She had scars covering the right side of her body from were she had been hit by shrapnel from the rocket launcher and a small pink scar on her left shoulder and one on the inside of her left thigh were bullets had hit her.

"How long was I out?" she asked Ludwig but Arthur answered, "Not even a full day. You heal pretty fast, even for a country. Having said that you should probably stay in bed a while longer." Uccello glared at Arthur. "Why, so I don't go to Alfred's meeting this afternoon?" Both Ludwig and Arthur cringed. "Fiabesco, you don't want to get involved in this." Ludwig cautioned but Uccello wasn't in a listening mood. "If you hadn't noticed I'm already involved in this. I don't know much about the world but I know the stories I've heard and I know what a World War means."

"Uccello, if you get involved you might have to take a life. Are you really okay with that?" Arthur asked, kneeling down to look her I the eyes. "I don't know. But I have to protect my people right? That's what it means to be a country." Ludwig signed and took her hand. "If you get scared or you think things are starting to look bad you have to retreat right away. Whenever you really need it your legs will carry you—that's what it means to be a Vargas."

"I promise." Uccello said. She tried to pull her hand back but Ludwig tightened his grip, "I'm serious Fiabesco, you have to promise me that you wont do anything reckless." Uccello looked into her adopted father's eyes and was pulled into a sea of worry and anger. "Okay, I promise Papa Ludwig, I wont do anything reckless." Ludwig pulled Uccello into a hug, trying not to hurt her.

* * *

Ludwig helped Uccello out of the car when they arrived at the meeting place. As they walked into the building Uccello looked around at the countries who had gathered. Alfred, of course, Roderich, Elizabeta, Francis, Lovino, Gilbert, and Antonio were already gathered in the meeting room having a heated discussion. Peter, Seborga, and Wy were holding neutrality forms. Peter saw Uccello walk in with Ludwig and he rushed over to her. "Uccello what are you doing here? Shouldn't you still be in bed?" Uccello smiled, "All my wounds have scared over, besides all countries siding with Alfred were told to come." Peter looked at Uccello sadly, "Uccello, do you even know who's on Turkey's side right now?" Uccello shook her head, "No, Papa Ludwig wouldn't tell me." Peter's face went a little pale. "Uccello, both Russia and China are Turkey's allies." Uccello's stomach began to hurt again and she ran off to find a trashcan.


End file.
